Ring Doorbells are one of the best devices today to add for your dream smart home. Whether it is the Ring Doorbell 2, the latest Ring Doorbell 3, or the tried and tested Ring Doorbell Pro, the charm of this device is undeniable. Isn’t it incredible to be able to receive alerts if someone is by your door even when you aren’t home?
These video doorbells are fantastic in a lot of ways. However, that doesn’t entirely mean that you won’t encounter any issue when using them. For instance, it might not ring one day. It is troublesome if that happens since you have it installed with a mechanical chime to hear anywhere in the house.
Fortunately, there are ways to fix a chime that isn’t working. Is your Ring Doorbell mechanical chime not working?. How to fix it involves making sure the video doorbell is connected. If that’s not the problem, either the battery is flat, or the notifications are silent. Whatever the cause of the chime’s malfunction, here are some tips for you.
Introducing the Ring App
If you have a Ring Video Doorbell installed, you will never miss any visitor. This device makes it super easy to monitor your home wherever you are. As long as you have an Internet connection, you can answer the door. It allows you to talk, respond, and watch your visitor even if you are not home.
One of its notable features is the motion sensor. Whenever the doorbell detects motion, it will send alerts to your phone via the Ring app. Alerts come even if the visitor did not press the bell. With an excellent shooting angle, it has an amazing ability to see whatever is happening in front of your door.
How can you take advantage of all these? You can through the Ring app. It is an exclusive mobile application you can install on your phone or tablet. With this app, you can connect with your home Wi-Fi and Ring device to control any of its features. It is also the same app that lets you control the mechanical chime connected to your device.
Is Your Ring Doorbell Mechanical Chime Not Working? How to Fix it Starts Here
Before we try to solve your chime problem, let’s tackle some facts.
Does a Ring doorbell connect with an existing chime? The answer is yes. You can connect your Ring Video Doorbell with the old wired doorbell’s AC chime. Ring doorbells are compatible with AC-powered mechanical chimes that operate between 8 to 24V. However, it isn’t compatible with wireless chimes or intercom system with a DC transformer.
You can find out which chimes are compatible with Ring Doorbell here.
You can determine the type of doorbell chime you have by the sound it makes. A mechanical chime makes sound through a physical bell as well as a mechanical hammer. When the hammer hits the bell, it rings a “ding-dong” tone. On the other hand, an electronic chime uses digital sounds. An example of this is the Ring Chime and the Ring Chime Pro products.
Ring Chime Pro wifi and All-new Ring Chime Pro are Ring’s own chime or bell product. They are separate from the Ring Video Doorbell, and it isn’t required when buying a video doorbell. However, these are fantastic devices for letting you know that a visitor is outside your door. You can hear the bell wherever you are at home, allowing you not to depend too much on the alerts on your phone.
The Reason Why Your Ring Doorbell is Not Ringing
There are two ways that your Ring Doorbell can be set to ring. First, it must be wired to the traditional bell you have. If your video doorbell is not connected to a mechanical bell, then the only way you will know someone’s at your door is through your smart device. The app receives alerts when someone presses the button on your Ring Doorbell.
The second option is through Ring Chime. As mentioned before, this is a separate Ring device from Ring Video Doorbells. This unit connects to Ring Doorbell through the app, ringing inside your house. This way, you don’t need to rely on your smartphone to know if you have a visitor.
How to Fix a Ring Doorbell Mechanical Chime That Isn’t Working
There are a few things you can do to make your Ring Doorbell chime. These are:
Making Sure the Doorbell is Connected to Wi-Fi
A possible reason why your Ring Doorbell’s mechanical chime isn’t working is that it wasn’t correctly connected to your home Wi-Fi. In that case, the first thing you should check is if you get a Wi-Fi dropout. Test your connection’s signal strength by checking the Device Health on your app.
Thick walls, especially those made of concrete or bricks, can block your device’s connection to the Internet. Remote devices will have a weaker signal or may not even be able to connect to your network. Fortunately, you can solve this quickly with either one of three options.
Option 1 – Move the Router
If the problem is the signal, which is due to the distance or thick walls, you can move the router instead. You can move it to a table near the Ring devices, somewhere open where nothing can block its signal. The problem is this solution doesn’t apply to everyone since people’s homes have different structures.
Option 2 – Use a Wi-Fi Extender
Using a Wi-Fi extender will extend the range of your Wi-Fi’s signal. It is a helpful tool for keeping your Ring device connected to your home Wi-Fi. You usually just need to plug the extender into a power source, making it easy to use. However, you will need another app to control it.
Option 3 – Use a Ring Chime
The best solution is to get a Ring Chime unit. Thanks to Ring Chime, you can use your Ring Doorbell without the smartphone to hear the doorbell. Being a wireless device, it can remotely connect to the video doorbells. All you need to do is connect the unit to the Ring app by installing the Chime app.
Charge the battery if it Flats Out
For Ring Doorbell 2, Ring Doorbell 3, and Ring Doorbell 3 Plus, you need to make sure the battery is good for it to work optimally. Generally, these devices have a battery that can last for months, especially if motion detection is off. Unless you hardwired the battery, they usually run low, of course.
If the battery is flat, then your Ring device won’t be working, which means it won’t be ringing. You can avoid this from happening by setting smartphone notifications of the app to alert you when the battery is running low. However, there are still instances of the battery dying without warning.
If this happens to your battery, the problem might be a bug. Also, you were probably not alerted that the battery is draining because the app was malfunctioning. You can fix this if you hard reset your Ring Doorbell, which restarts the setup process and disconnects the app.
Here is how you can reset your Ring Doorbell:
- Press down on the setup button for 15 seconds then release. Don’t hold it down for too long.
- The light on the front of the device flashes several times, indicating that it is resetting.
- Wait for a few minutes as the reset procedure is completing.
- Press the setup button again to start the Setup Mode
One thing that confuses people is where or which one is the setup button. The button for this is either orange or black, depending on the model. Here is a breakdown of the setup buttons for the different Ring devices:
- Ring Video Doorbell 2 – black button; front of the device
- Ring Video Doorbell Pro – black button; front of the device
- Ring Video Doorbell Elite – black button; right side of the device
- Ring Video Doorbell 3 – orange button; back of the device
- Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus – orange button; back of the device
You can check out this video on how to reset Ring Doorbell 2 if you are confused.
You shouldn’t let the battery of your Ring doorbell completely run out. If it’s flat, your video doorbell dies out too, and that means nothing keeps an eye out of your door. You won’t know who presses the doorbell or lingered near it. That’s not all. It will be annoying to have to set up the device again.
Turned Off Alerts
Your Ring Doorbell’s mechanical chime might not be working or instead not ringing because the alerts are turned off. It means your phone is not notified if anyone comes near your door. It often happens because of the battery-saving features of most smartphones, cleaning power-hungry background apps.
It can clear your Ring app, which is supposed to run in the background. If that happens, the Ring alerts may be turned off as well. You can prevent this from happening by tweaking the settings of your phone. Go to Settings > Device Maintenance or Battery Options. Add Ring app to the apps allowed to run in the background.
Conclusion
Is your Ring Doorbell mechanical chime not working? – just make sure you have a strong Wi-Fi signal and enough battery. You should also make sure that you turned on the alerts. If the app isn’t working well, you can reset it although it would be troublesome to have to set it up again.
References:
- Ring Doorbell Not Ringing Inside?
- Why is My Ring Doorbell Not Ringing?, December 12, 2018
